The Athena programmer, a deep brain stimulation therapy management system, offers clinicians a powerful interface that enables them to set or adjust deep brain stimulation parameters to optimise each patient’s therapy. The system also has comprehensive data management capacity, which aids clinicians in the organisation and storage of important patient information. The platform is produced by St. Jude Medical and has recently received regulatory approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
“The Athena programmer is an innovative product designed to help physicians manage the unique challenges associated with programming deep brain stimulation systems,” said Chris Chavez, president of the St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation Division. “We are excited to be able to offer this programming platform to physicians in Australia as part of our newly introduced family of deep brain stimulation products.”
Designed as a tablet PC, the Athena programmer can be utilised through an interactive touch screen or through a keyboard. The system’s unique features include:
- Measuring 22.6 cm, the Athena programmer screen is the largest and only full-color touch screen, which allows clinicians to see all lead and programming information at one time.
- Programmer’s database provides a full history of programming sessions for up to 1,000 patients with 200 sessions for each patient.
- Capability that permits data export for analysis, printing, emailing and importing into electronic medical records.
- Programming session notes can be easily accessed in subsequent sessions through a convenient notes section.
The Athena programmer is also approved in the European Union and is in the submission process for additional markets. It can be used to program the Libra, LibraXP, and Brio DBS systems which are also accepted for use in Australia and the European Union.
